My Time with InfoComm Asia
- Ben Veechai
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
What never ceases to amaze me are the mini worlds that exists within the exhibition universe. I thought I had traversed many of these worlds already from the cosmetics industry to pharma, to food & hospitality until I had the good fortune of meeting the InfoComm Asia team in March of 2024 during my UFI Asia Event Directors’ workshop and main conference session on Conferences & Exhibitions, Communities & Technology – What We should Be Learning From Each Other.
It was during my workshop where I got to meet InfoComm Asia’s Executive Director June Ko and learn more about the world of Pro-AV. We seem to hit it off famously and I spent the next few days with June and her team in Macau and ultimately signed onboard to be their Senior Advisor for a year to help with their three events including InfoComm China (April, Beijing), InfoComm Asia (July, Bangkok), and InfoComm India (September, Mumbai). Firstly, what is InfoComm Asia? Well, they are the Singapore-based subsidiary of AVIXA (the Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association) and is the leading organizer of professional audiovisual (Pro-AV) and integrated experience trade shows across the Asia Pacific region.
But who cares about Pro-AV? Actually, everyone should care because Pro-AV involves or affects almost every industry there is. From theme park virtual rides, to smart city planning, to hospital diagnostic imaging, to outdoor 3D advertising, to defense and security, Pro-AV technology and services is a major tenet that advances these and many industries forward. I’m a firm believer that in-order to market an event (or anything for that matter), one has to fully understand the ecosystem of that industry. Putting aside all of the visual and audio eye candy there was to take in at the InfoComm events, I had to quickly ramp-up and learn about role of Pro-AV buyers, manufacturers, sellers, distributors, and systems integrators as well as the unique market for each region. And what’s the best way to learn about an event’s industry in the shortest amount of time? Go and talk to as many customers and players as you can and sit through conference sessions. (I’ll talk more about this in another post).
My time with the InfoComm Asia team mainly focused in the areas of visitor promotion marketing and customer insights—two of my favorites. The core team whom I worked with during this period was already incredibly capable and dedicated so I really had to bring my A-game to the table. I worked most closely with Marketing Director Angie Eng which was like working with my marketing twin. I loved the pace at which we would bounce ideas for promotional campaigns and new marketing channels off each other, complete each other’s thoughts, and then just quickly execute. With Cyrus Cheung, InfoComm Asia’s Experience Strategist, I was able to focus in areas of better understanding InfoComm Asia’s customers’ needs and pain points (something many organizers often overlook) towards creating better experiences. In fact, the team put together some incredible immersive onsite experiences at all three of their events such as an immersive zone of sight and sounds directed by The Walking Dead’s Emmy Award winning composer.
I also must give a shout out to InfoComm Asia’s Operations Manager Kim Ng who reminded me what meticulous attention to detail looks like as well as Finance Manager Ivan Choong who added humor to every encounter. There are actually countless funny and warm moments throughout 2024 and even more people to thank such as Theresa Len, Sarah Ang, Joey Choo, Li Yan Tan, Suzanne Khoo, Culsin and her team on InfoComm China, Khun O and her team on InfoComm Asia, Sooraj and his team on InfoComm India. I also have to thank AVIXA board members Dave Labuskes and Sarah Joyce for taking a chance on a Thai-guy from Boston to advise their precious team and my AVIXA Marketer’s Meetup co-host Monisha Devaiah. Last but certainly not least, I want to thank Blue Apple founder Aakash who’s video and photography team are some of the best I’ve ever worked with.
There is just nothing like working hands-on a trade show. And for sure, it was wonderful that all three InfoComm Asia events saw double digit visitor growth numbers in 2024 (of which I hope I had some small part in assisting with). But for me, my time with InfoComm Asia reminded me just why I love working in events. For a brief moment we come together and create these mini-worlds, understand its culture, and make new relationships.
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